After all the recent heavy rains much of the flat landscape was flooded.

Our first stop was the ancient Isurumuni Rajamaha Vihara (2nd century BC) with its rock temple and square lotus pond in front of it.

There are carvings of elephants cavorting in the water on the rocks and

just above them is a carving of a man and a horse dating back to C6AD.

We went into the small museum here and I photographed the very famous sculpture of the lovers – he is upper caste and she is lower caste – as well as a couple of other sculptures.

In the reproduction of the cave temple there was a reclining Buddha statue, murals depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha and a fabulous painted ceiling.

Anuradhapura first became a capital in 380BC but was replaced by Polonnaruwa in the 11th century. It is now a Unesco world heritage site. It was and continues to be a major centre for Buddhism. The ruins are spread over a very large area so we only visited the most important ones.

We drove to the Mahavihara, the central part of the complex with relics dating from 3rd century BC to the 11th century AD, and where the Sri Maha Bodhi tree grows;

this sacred tree is the oldest historically authenticated tree in the world. It is in fact not one but several trees with golden supports to hold up some of its branches.

The day we were there was a poya (full moon) and therefore a day of public celebration. People had come from far and wide bringing picnics with them and all the women wore white.

prayer flags

making offerings of flowers

From there we walked along the avenue

passing a diorama depicting the story of how the first Bo tree was brought to Sri Lanka

and then the Lovamahapaya, the Brazen Temple so-called because it once had a bronze roof but today only a few columns remain.

The huge white Ruvanvelisaya dagoba was set amongst trees and grassland and we only viewed it from afar.

The Thuparama was the tallest dagoba in the Anagiri complex and is still being restored.

In the Anagiri monastery complex we saw some well preserved carvings and another moon stone. The moon stones in Anuradhapura differ from those in Polonnaruwa in that “A half lotus was carved in the centre, which was enclosed by several concentric bands. The first band from the half lotus is decorated with a procession of swans, followed by a band with an intricate foliage design known as liyavel. The third band has carvings of four animals; elephants, lions, horses, and bulls. These four animals follow each other in a procession symbolizing the four stages in life: growth, energy, power and forbearance. The fourth and outermost band contains a carving of flames.” (Wikipedia). The bands are clearly visible in this photo.

The last stop of the day was to see the 4th century Samadhi Buddha. It is said that when viewed from one side he appears to be smiling and from the other, he appears to have a sad expression on his face but I have to admit that I couldn’t see any difference in his expression.

monastery remains

Nearby are the twin ponds of Kuttam Pokuna, the finest bathing tanks in Anuradhapura.

I really like these metal votive candle holders

a cannon ball tree

a typical roadside fruit stall

roadside shrine

It is quite common for girls to box in Thailand but it may seem unconventional in other parts of the world.

Girls boxing against each other in Thailand

Thailand has the highest number of “lady boys” in the world and you come across them in all walks of life. Lily works as a cabaret artiste as does her friend

Lily

Lily and friend

We started our visit in the archeological museum which described the history of the city and had interesting reconstructions of what some of the buildings are thought to have looked like as well as a large collection of Hindu bronze statues.

The southern group is approached via a road running along the edge of a huge man-made tank (reservoir) whose name in Sinhalese means sea (because of its size), where we saw many people taking their early morning bath or washing their clothes.

Inside this first group the Potgul Vihara is an unusual structure consisting of a rectangular shape with a dagoba (a Buddhist stupa) at each corner and one in the centre. The central dagoba is thought to have held sacred books.

Also in this area is a 4m tall statue of a male. Various suggestions have been made regarding who he is supposed to be – possibly King Parakramabahu I; one tongue-in-cheek suggestion is simply ‘man holding a slice of water melon’. The statue is unique in its lifelike representation as opposed to the more stylised representations usually found in Buddhist art.

Our guide reached up to pull some leaves off a curry tree and just missed being bitten by this snake. He hadn’t even seen it although we saw it move towards him.

Not much is left of the royal palace which measures 31m by 13m and is said to have had seven storeys.

Parakramabahu’s audience hall is notable for the frieze of elephants, each in a different position, with a frieze of lions at the top of the steps.

Vatadage, a circular relic house, has a moon stone at its northern entrance, which is reputed to be the finest in Polonnaruwa. The design of the sandakada pahana of the Polonnaruwa period differs largely from that of the Anuradhapura period. The single band that was used to depict the four animals was removed, and processions of the elephant, lion and horse were depicted in separate bands. The most significant change is the removal of the bull from the sandakada pahana. The Anuradhapura tradition of placing sandakada pahanas only at entrances to Buddhist temples also changed, and they are found at the entrances of other buildings belonging to the Polonnaruwa period as well. (Wikipedia)

The Gal Pota (stone book), nearly 9m long it’s a huge representation of an “ola” book (the page of ola books are made from palm leaves). Part of the inscription states that this stone, weighing 25 tonnes, was dragged to its current position from Mihintale, a mere 100km away.

standing at the entrance of the Hatadage you can see how beautifully symmetrical the building is

a typical bathing pool

the unusual ziggarat-style building of Satmahal Prasada

The 3 Buddha statues at the Gal Vihara

When this dagoba was discovered it still had some of its original outer layer of lime plaster in place

a headless Buddha statue

The Tivanka Image house contains a thrice-bent statue (this is what Tivanka means) of a Buddha; this form is usually reserved for female statues. There were some beautiful frescoes here, the only ones still extant in Polonnaruwa.

the lotus pond

the King’s council chamber

the lion throne

the royal baths

Spring always means primroses and wood anemones (also known as wind flowers) for me

a carpet of bluebells

apple blossom

Cee’s post has lots of links to other Spring images

carpet in Singapore airport

a printing block for batik making

Singapore batik

dress fabric for sale in Singapore’s Arab Street

stencilled pattern on an antique Thai door

wormcasts on a Thai beach

Sand dollars I picked up on the beach

food wrappers at a Thai market

reflection of trees

Thai carved wood panel

mosaic glass lamps seen in Thailand but I think they’re Turkish

dress fabric

abstract patterns made by mangrove roots against the sunset

purple spotted green orchid

Angel Wing leaf patterns

My favourite beach

different views of the beach at Lynmouth, UK

view of distant Porlock bay, UK

Some beaches further afield

evening on the beach at Seminyak, Bali

a vendor of kites on the beach in Bali

a Balinese fishing boat

boats on the beach at Amed, Bali

children’s festival on the beach in Bali

I left my parents’ house early that morning, carefully locking the door behind me as they are elderly and I do not like to leave the front door unlocked. I was off to try and find the Café des rêves (the Dream Café or Café of Dreams), a very special café my sister had told me about. When I eventually found it, it was all that it promised with its shabby chic décor and vintage clothing. I was transported into another world. I enjoyed drinking a decent cup of coffee from a one-off antique cup and saucer. I was so contented, sitting in the corner by the window watching the world go by, that I didn’t realise how fast my self-allotted time had passed and I had to hurry to get back home in time for lunch.

As I went through the front gate and up the path to the front door I thought that the garden had changed, there were plants and trees in it that weren’t there when I left. Even the colour of the front door was different and the door knocker wasn’t the brass dolphin I was accustomed to seeing. On each side of the door was a door bell. Under one, on an embossed brass plate was inscribed ‘night bell’ and over the other ‘day bell’. Paint was peeling on the frame round the door; which surprised me because usually my father was meticulous about the upkeep of the house.

I opened the door with the key I’d borrowed from my mother and stepped into the hall. Gone was the Venetian pendant glass lamp, the prints depicting the city of my birth a century ago, and the vase of daffodils on a small occasional table. Instead there was an old brown carpet with an indistinct pattern on it. The house was quiet but then the house was always quiet so that didn’t bother me but at least the house usually felt lived in.

I went down the short flight of stairs to the living room and almost bumped into the door, which no longer had glass panels in it. Inside the room was bare. A yellowish floor covering marked out in cracked and lifting tiles greeted my eyes. The large glass-fronted dresser containing my parents’ prized collection of Spode china was empty and was painted in a dull red paint. My father had spent hours with a blow torch and a paint scraper painstakingly scraping off the accumulated layers of paint and grime to reveal the surface of the plain wood underneath.

The adjoining kitchen was bereft of life and furniture too. I climbed the back stairs to what I knew as the guest bathroom only to find another bare room. It was the same in the other rooms in the house the higher I climbed until at last I reached the top floor where my parents slept. In the middle bedroom there was a bed, a chest of drawers and a chair. Next to the window there dangled a long tube made of fabric-covered metal mesh with a sort of funnel at the end. The house had formerly belonged to a doctor and she had used the speaking tube, for this is what it was, to communicate with patients who might pitch up late at night, hence the night bell for there was a funnel above that too.
On the floor was a large Moses basket. I knew where and when I was then. I was in the house when we moved in. I was only 6 months old and still small enough to sleep in one of the drawers from the chest. I would sleep in the Moses basket in a couple of month’s time.

It was strange to be in the house with almost no furniture in it. In the present day my parents were slowly divesting themselves of unnecessary clutter with a view to having to downsize at some point in the future if their state of health so dictated. The circle could soon be completed.

Read what other people discovered through the door

All mothers, human or animal, need a little love …..

Mount Batur in Bali

Mount Agung in Bali

mountains around St Ours in south eastern France near the Italian border

Swiss mountain scenery

mountain pastures

Switzerland, Lake Maloja

McLeodanj, home to the Dalai Lama in exile in northern India

the Dalai Lama’s monastery is right in the centre of the photo with what looks like tents on the top of it

mountain scenery in the Himanchal, India

en route to Kumbalgarh, Rajasthan

views from the top of Kumbalgarh fort

flying from the UK to Turkey over snow covered mountains

You can climb some more (virtual) mountains here

a lucky cut with the scissors revealed the words “most faithfully” in the bottom one. Sometimes you don’t actually see what you’ve created until it’s finished. It’s the same with photographs – elements hidden at the time of taking the photo are revealed when you can view the picture on a large screen.

After so much time away from the physical act of creating a collage it was a pleasure to riffle through the images and find things that spoke to me. As always it was also a pleasure to revisit some of the images I’ve collected from various magazines over the years.